Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit Oxy USA Inc. is selling most of its natural gas liquids business for $700 million under a deal that calls for Oxy to form a 50-50 joint venture with the buyer to operate the business.
Separately, Oxy's chemical unit will sell its industrial phosphate business to FMC Corp., Chicago, for an undisclosed price.
The company will discontinue operations at a plant in Dallas and one in Jeffersonville, Ind.
Oxy's operations at its Columbia, Tenn., plant will be reduced, while its Niagara Falls, N.Y., plant will continue to operate.
GAS LIQUIDS DEALS
Hicks, Muse & Co., a Dallas investment firm, agreed to a $700 million purchase price for Oxy's NGL business and related assets excluding certain assets in the Permian basin.
That price entails $691 million in cash and assumption of $9 million debt.
Assets are mainly in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana and include interests in 40 gas processing plants and related facilities, four fractionation plants, four liquids pipelines, 20 million bbl storage capacity, and a deepwater import terminal.
Under a definitive agreement, Oxy and Hicks, Muse will operate a new company, Trident Energy Inc., as a 50-50 joint venture, with each partner investing as much as $100 million in equity in the venture.
Remaining acquisition cost will be financed with debt off balance sheet with nonrecourse to either party.
Under terms of the agreement, Oxy and Trident will sign a long term NGL supply contract for Oxy's Lake Charles, La., petrochemical complex.
The sale is subject to the completion of financing and government review, as well as other considerations.
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